


Easily Broken

by KieraElieson



Series: Trust is Difficult to Give (but Easily Broken) [2]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Human AU, Hurt/Comfort, Hybrid AU, Kidnapping, Remy is a sassy dude, until he gets serious
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-27
Updated: 2020-01-09
Packaged: 2021-02-26 05:41:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,181
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21988306
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KieraElieson/pseuds/KieraElieson
Summary: Logan and Virgil finally have a home, where they are loved by Patton and Thomas and everything is going well. Until it isn’t.Stripped away from their home, in a situation neither is at all familiar with, how will they survive? How will they get back home? Can they get back home?A sequel to Difficult to Give
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Logic | Logan Sanders
Series: Trust is Difficult to Give (but Easily Broken) [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1551208
Comments: 85
Kudos: 154





	1. Chapter 1

  * •^*^••



**Chapter One**

  * •^*^••



“So when can I meet all your friends, babes?”

Remy watched as Roman shuffled awkwardly. “Well, maybe… no, they’d be busy then… um,”

“Roman.” Remy let a slow smile cross his face. “Roman Prince, my gorgeous and very smart human, who definitely knows better than to lie to his friends about who he is, especially for such a long time… that’s exactly what you did, isn’t it?”

Roman hung his head. “Maaaaybe…”

Remy leaned forward, letting his smile turn into a smirk. “So let me get this straight, babe,” 

Roman chuckled. 

“There’s five people that know you, and are blissfully unaware of my blessed existence.”

Suddenly a look of horror crossed Roman’s face. 

“I believe we had a deal in place for this sort of situation?” Remy sipped his coffee loudly. 

“No!” Roman was aghast. “Don’t do it! I’ll buy you coffee every day for a straight year!”

“No way, gurl, I’ve been waiting too long for this.” 

“Listen, Remy,  _ please _ don’t!”

Remy thought about it, Roman deserved at least that. “I’ll compromise. You give me thirty coffees, at my choice of time, in addition to the usuals, and tell me the cover story you have going, and I’ll go easy on you.”

Roman got on his knees and clasped his hands. “Remyyyyyy,  _ please! _ ”

“Gurl, begging a hybrid? What would daddio say?”

“At least don’t bring him into this. Please.”

Remy had never intended to let Roman’s father catch wind of this, but this was prime blackmail right here. “You’ll owe me a favor.”

“It’s a deal.”

Remy smiled evilly. “I’ll need to borrow your phone to call Joan. I don’t think I’ll be going in to the shelter for a while.”

  * •^*^••



Logan stared out at the blurred view of the city. 

Thomas had let him watch while they looked up what it would cost to get him an eye exam, and it seemed that, since he had never had one before, and especially since he was a hybrid, it would cost between three and four hundred dollars. 

Thomas and Patton were not rich. Kind, and extremely generous, but not rich. And they had already both spent a fair amount of money on clothes and bedding for the two hybrids, not to mention the continual cost of food. 

Patton had wanted to use credit cards and get it done immediately, but Logan had insisted that he didn’t want them to go into debt for him. In the end, they had decided to wait a month, and save up money to take him then. 

“I guess it’s true that hybrids are pets for the rich,” Logan mumbled. 

There was a strange thump sound, muffled more than Logan thought it would be if it came from within the house. He went to check on Virgil, but he was still asleep in bed. Patton was also asleep, and while Logan didn’t want to open Thomas’s door without asking, there weren’t any sounds coming from inside. 

Logan looked around in the kitchen and bathroom. Perhaps… a towel may have fallen? But he could not find what had made the noise. And since he had been looking at the balcony at the time he heard it, that only left the front door. 

He got out the step stool and set it in front of the door so he could see out the peephole. But he didn’t see anything out of the ordinary. 

He got down and went back to the living room. Once one of the humans was awake, he’d inform them of the noise. 

  * •^*^••



“This—is not what I was expecting.”

“I know! That’s what I said the first time too! But I swear I’ve seen two hybrids in there.”

“Well, if nothing else, at least it isn’t likely to have alarms.”

“The biggest problem is I think one of them works from home, so we’ll have to wait until they both leave.”

“We don’t  _ have  _ to.”

“No. We’re waiting. It wouldn’t pay enough if things went south.”

The woman leaned back in her seat. “If I’m gonna wait in front of this poor ass looking apartment for the next week, you’re gonna owe me more than one box of donuts.”

The other woman grinned. “It’s a deal.”

“And you’d better find somewhere else for me to go as soon as I’ve got these ones.”

The younger woman held up her hands. “Of course, of course. I wouldn’t waste your time like that.”

  * •^*^••



Patton was working on making breakfast when there was a knock at the door. 

“Oh!” Logan suddenly said. “I had meant to tell you about a strange noise out there earlier. It may be a package.”

“I wasn’t expecting anything…” Patton said, wiping his hands off on his apron. 

He opened the door, and was surprised by a man in a business suit standing there. 

“Hello? Can I help you?”

The man held out a box, which was taped shut, and had a large red label on it.  **Fragile.** “I was asked to deliver this to you.”

“Oh. Um, thank you, but I’m not sure you have the right house.”

“You are Patton Hart, correct?”

“Well, yes, but I’m not expecting—“

The man interrupted. “I have many more things to do today, so if you will accept the package, I can get on with them.” 

“Ok, um, thank you then.” Patton accepted the box. It was not very large, but certainly not small. 

He brought it into the kitchen. 

“What is it?” Logan asked. 

“I don’t know yet. And I really don’t know how he knew my name.” 

Suddenly the box moved. Patton and Logan both jumped back. 

“There’s something alive in there!” Patton said, not sure whether to be more worried about what it could be, or worried for whatever the thing was. 

Patton scratched at the edge of the tape and pulled it off, unwilling to use a knife when he might cut the thing on accident. Finally he opened the box. Inside was a small cage, and a hybrid sitting inside, hunched over to fit. 

“Ohhh, you poor thing! I’ll get you out.” Patton lifted the cage out and searched for the door. It took him a minute to realize that the entire top of the cage unlatched and came off. He reached in and picked up the hybrid, who didn’t seem to mind at all. 

The hybrid was a cat hybrid, darker like Virgil, and had on a matching outfit, some kind of… biker gang outfit maybe? And sunglasses that he showed no intention of taking off. 

Patton had only held him for a few seconds before the hybrid crossed his arms. “What, are you expecting me to do a trick? Sit up and beg?”

“What? No.” Patton set him down on the counter. 

The hybrid frowned up at Patton. “So why am I here?”

“I don’t know! I never… asked for you or anything!”

“So you don’t want me?”

“Well no, I mean yes, I mean… I don’t know. You’ve only just gotten here.”

Logan pulled himself the last of the way up onto the counter. He took a few seconds to catch his breath. 

“Who are you, anyway?”

“The name’s Remy. Who are you? Anyway~” he said, drawling out the anyway in a mocking tone. 

“My name is Logan. Are you really uninformed as to why you’ve been brought here?”

Remy shrugged. “So are you two the only ones here?”

“No, there are other people here,” Patton said, his voice conveying all his confusion. “But— I still have no idea what’s going on.”

Suddenly, Remy jumped off the counter. 

Patton only barely caught him midair. “What was that?!”

Remy grimaced, and his ears flattened to his head. “Ow! Listen, Pattycake, you can’t just yell in a hybrid’s ear like that. It hurts.” He covered his ear with his hands and fixed Patton with an expression that was only partly upset, mostly pouting and sass. 

“Well you can’t just jump off the counter!” Patton protested, but he did make sure to lower his voice. 

“Maybe that one can’t,” Remy said, squirming to get down. “But I can handle myself.” 

Patton let go, and Remy dropped to the ground, easily landing on his feet. 

“So what’s going on out here?” Thomas asked, walking into the kitchen with Virgil in his arms. 

Patton was surprised that Virgil was consenting to be held. 

“We have a… guest.” Logan said. 

“A guest? Gurl, I live here now.”

Patton put his face into his hands. “We’ll figure something out.”

  * •^*^••



By the time Virgil woke up the next morning, Remy was gone. Which he didn’t mind. But Patton certainly did. 

“But where could he have gone?!” Patton said, already in tears. “What if he gets hurt? What if he left because I was too hard on him? I know I did yell at him a few times, but I never thought he’d run away!” 

Virgil carefully placed a hand on Patton’s knee, and then his other hand, trying to offer comfort. 

“I just don’t understand anything!” 

Patton suddenly grabbed Virgil, and Virgil let out a surprised squeak. Patton held Virgil tight to his chest. Virgil wiggled until he was in a slightly more comfortable position, but then he stopped and let Patton use him as a teddy bear. He was surprisingly comfortable, for a human. 

It was a while before Patton lessened his grip slightly, no longer almost crushing Virgil against himself. He rubbed a hand along Virgil’s back and in his hair, and Virgil purred, hoping it would make Patton feel better. 

  * •^*^••



“Love your friends, gurl,” Remy said, startling Roman. 

“Remy! When did you get here?”

“Sometime this morning. But seriously, I approve. Barely had to teach them anything.”

“And…” Roman said hopefully. 

“Oh no, I’m still gonna do it.” Remy grinned. 

Roman wilted. “Oh, come on! If even you approve, then do we really have to?”

“Yep!” Remy said, popping the p. 

  * •^*^••



It was three days before Remy got back. Thomas answered the door and there was Remy, still looking exactly as he had before he left. 

“Heya, babes,” Remy said, drinking something out of a Starbucks cup that was so big compared to him that he had to hold it with both hands. “Sorry I’m late.”

“Where were you?” Thomas said. 

“Out.”

“This long?”

“There was a concert downtown.”

“It’s been three days! And you’re a hybrid!”

“Nah, you know what, I may just go,”

“Where?!”

“Out.”

“And when will you be back then? Patton’s been worried sick!”

Remy shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“No, you’re staying. And apologizing to Patton.”

Thomas tried to grab Remy, but he dodged, thankfully further into the house, where Thomas could shut the door and keep him in. 

“Gurl, it isn’t my fault Pattycake got attached.”

“Remy!” Patton’s voice came from the back room, and soon Remy was being squished against Patton. 

“Lemme go!” Remy protested. “Ruining my whole look.”

Shortly after Patton did let him go. Remy picked his drink up from where he had dropped it. 

“So, what’re you all dolled up for?”

“There’s a movie we’re going to watch,” Thomas said. 

“Ooh, what is it?”

“The theater doesn’t allow hybrids. You know, Thomas, maybe we ought to stay, he only just got back.” Patton said. 

“Oh, nah. Don’t wait up for me, babe, I’ll be leaving soon anyway.”

Thomas frowned. “What did you come back for then?”

Remy put a hand to his chest and gave an exaggerated offended face to the two of them. “Is this not my home anymore? You’re kicking me out?”

“No!” Patton insisted. “We’d just rather you stay.”

Remy rolled his eyes hard enough to be seen even with the sunglasses. “I’ll stay until you leave at least. Where’s Virge?”

Without waiting for an answer, Remy started walking towards the bedrooms. 

  * •^*^••



“Have fun, babes,” Remy yelled after Patton and Thomas as they left. 

Barely was the door shut before he spun around to face Virgil and Logan. “Welp, guess it’s my turn. See you when I see you.”

“You can’t be serious,” Logan deadpanned. 

But Remy was already leaving. 

  * •^*^••



It was time. 

The woman pulled her hood up to partially cover her face. Then she climbed the stairs up to the apartment. She tried the handle cautiously, not wanting to let it make any noise. It didn’t turn, of course. 

She went to the side of the building and carefully climbed up to the second floor balcony. The door there opened easily enough. No one expected someone to break in from the balcony. 

The hybrids weren’t in the living room. She smiled. All the easier. It couldn’t have been planned better. She pulled out the bottle, pouring the liquid onto a cloth, and crept back to the bedroom. There were two bedrooms, but from one, she heard faint music. She darted inside and closed the door behind her. 

Honestly, it was too easy to shove the cloth over the face of the first, and the second just gasped at her, and then took in a deep breath. Before it could scream, or bite, or whatever it was planning to do, she shoved the cloth in its face as well. 

Soon, she was driving away, two hybrids securely in cages in the backseat. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These poor boys, I put them through a lot.

  * •^*^••



**Chapter Two**

  * •^*^••



Virgil woke sluggishly, too tired to move, despite the pain in his head. He managed to push himself to his hands and knees, confused at why he was laying on hard plastic. And why the plastic was shaking. He then registered the sound of an engine, and enough adrenaline flooded his body for him to wake up. He was in a cage, in a car. Logan was in a cage next to him, asleep, or… please let him just be asleep. 

Virgil looked around the car. They were in the backseat, and the cages were seatbelted in so that they wouldn’t slide around. There was a human in the front seat, driving. 

Virgil tried to remember why he was there. But he couldn’t remember anything. After Thomas and Patton had left, Remy left next, and then Logan had used Thomas’s laptop to start a movie for the two of them. And then he woke up. 

They had been kidnapped. 

A soft groan drew his attention to Logan, who was starting to wake up. Virgil pressed his hands against the side of the cage and pushed all his body weight into it. He hadn’t expected it to move, but he was still disappointed when it didn’t. 

“Logan!” He whispered. 

Logan shook his head slightly, and then sat up, looking around disorientedly before he saw Virgil. 

“Virgil. What—where are we?” Logan’s voice wasn’t as quiet, and Virgil caught the glance the human gave them in the rear view mirror. 

“I don’t know.”

Suddenly Logan started banging on the cage. “Let us out! There are laws against kidnapping hybrids!”

“No, Logan! Stop!” Virgil hissed. 

Logan kept banging and yelling at the human, but the human just ignored them. 

It was several minutes later when the human yelled back. “Listen, I’m patient, but I’m getting tired of this. Shut up.”

“You think I’ll obey a human that kidnapped me?!” Logan yelled back. 

Virgil shrank back. They didn’t know this human. Anything could happen. 

Suddenly there was music. Loud music. 

Virgil clamped his hands over his ears, but the music was loud enough to rumble through his chest, and even past his hands it hurt his ears. He looked at Logan, who was having similar problems. 

The music didn’t turn off until the car stopped. 

The human woman unbuckled the cages and lifted them by the handles at the top, completely ignoring the hybrids inside. 

The cages were set up on a long table, which already had many other cages, also with hybrids inside. From the minute they entered the room they could hear soft crying. Virgil froze. This was bad. This was so much worse than the pet shop. What was going on? Why wasn’t— he wanted Patton. 

The human left them to talk with several other humans. 

Virgil set a hand on the wall of his cage, and Logan put a hand on his cage, in a similar place. It was the closest they could get, but it felt so far. 

Humans were milling around the room, observing the hybrids. A large man came to stand in front of Logan’s cage. 

“A big one, aren’t you?”

Logan stayed silent. Virgil was glad. If Logan got angry and yelled again… well, Virgil’s brain could think of many, many ways that this could go even more wrong. 

“How old are you?” The man asked. 

Logan glowered at him, but didn’t answer. 

The man reached out and picked up Logan’s cage. 

Virgil instinctively flung himself against the front of his cage. “Logan!” His voice being the loudest thing in the whole room at that moment. 

Logan jerked around, and his eyes were as wide and scared as Virgil guessed his own were. 

The man smiled, and it shook Virgil to his core. “So the little one has some spine to him after all. You know each other?”

Without waiting for an answer, the man grabbed Virgil’s cage with his other hand. He went to the woman who had brought them, and paid her for them. 

They’d been sold. 

  * •^*^••



“Where are they?! I knew we shouldn’t have left them alone!” Patton said. 

“It’ll be ok,” Thomas said. “They might have just gone with Remy.”

“But we don’t know where Remy goes!”

“He said something about a concert, I’m sure if we check for concerts that are in town, and then check the ones that allow hybrids, we’ll get a clue at least.”

  * •^*^••



They were in a small room. The man set down Logan’s cage on the floor. Then he set down Virgil’s box and opened the door. 

“Don’t touch him,” Logan said, half warning and half pleading. 

The man ignored him, reaching into the cage. Virgil huddled in the farthest corner and hissed at him. 

“If you corner him like that he may get violent.” Logan tried, well aware that it probably wouldn’t work. 

But he never expected what the man said next. “Oh? Lucky me.” The man retracted his hand slightly. “Listen up, kitten. You’re mine now, and I can pick you up whenever I want to.”

Virgil hissed. 

“I’m going to pick you up now, and every time those teeth or claws come out, I’m going to hold onto you for another hour.”

The man grabbed Virgil by the front of his shirt, and Virgil predictably sank his teeth into the man’s hand. But the man didn’t even flinch, just pulled Virgil out of the cage and held him tightly in his lap. Virgil scratched and bit furiously, but the man’s grip was unyielding. 

Nothing Logan said to him made any difference either, whether he threatened or begged. 

Finally the man must have gotten tired of Virgil attacking him, and he pressed him into the floor, hands splayed over his chest and holding his arms to his sides. Virgil squirmed and screamed angrily. 

Logan couldn’t stand it. He couldn’t do anything. 

The man was entirely unmoved, even as his hands were bleeding, and Virgil’s cries echoed through the small room. 

“Virgil.”

Still struggling, Virgil turned to look at Logan. 

“Just… just be still.” It hurt Logan to admit defeat, and hurt him more to tell Virgil to do it. But he couldn’t see Virgil get hurt if there was anything he could do to stop it. 

Virgil kicked a few more times, but then went limp, still shaking. His eyes were wide, clearly terrified, and his whole body twitched every few seconds. 

“There you go,” the man said. “Just lay calm a while. We’ll be in here quite a while.” 

It was at least an hour later when the man let Virgil off of the floor, setting him in his lap. Virgil’s shaking started up all over again, but he didn’t try to bite again. 

Several hours passed before the door opened, and a young girl passed in a plate with several sandwiches on it. The man ate two of them, and there were two left on the plate. 

Logan’s eyes narrowed as he realized. This man was going to force them into being as dependent on him as he could. He was going to show them his hand, with all of the cards in it, and make them realize that they had none. Well, Logan wasn’t going to go along with it. He was  _ not _ going to beg for the sandwich.

More time passed. The tension rose and fell whenever any of them moved, but gradually, as the hours passed, it grew calmer. The girl came back, bringing several paper bags with fast food. She took the sandwiches out with her. 

The whole time, barely a word had been spoken. The man seemed very comfortable in the silence, and Logan was scared of what he might do to Virgil if he became annoyed, so Logan didn’t dare speak. 

The smell of the food filled the room, and Logan’s stomach growled. 

The man opened the bag one handed, his other hand still wrapped around Virgil. He held a fry out in front of Virgil’s face. 

“Want one?”

Virgil hissed. 

The man shrugged, and ate the fry himself. He ate, occasionally offering something to Virgil, only to be hissed at. 

Once the man was done eating, he pulled out his phone and sat doing something on it, just as silent and seemingly content as before. 

It was several more hours before the man set his phone aside. He yawned and scratched his head. 

“Well, I think we’ve got about thirty left. I’m going to sleep.”

He stood up, still keeping a grip of Virgil, who thrashed and hissed, but didn’t try to bite him again. 

“No…. don’t take him!” Logan found himself saying before he could think about whether or not he ought to. 

But he was ignored. The man left the room with Virgil, who was getting more and more vocal in his protests. The light turned off, and Logan was left in silent darkness. 

  * •^*^••



“That car is gone…” Remy noted. It had been in the same place every other time he had come, and he’d had to avoid being seen by the driver, but this time it was gone. 

The instant he knocked on the door it was opened, and Patton was practically screaming at him. 

“Where’ve you been!?! Where’s… where’s… Remy, Where are they?”

Remy frowned. “Jeez, Pattycake, what’s going on?”

Patton grabbed him and shook him. “Where are Logan and Virgil?!”

“Let me go! I haven’t seen them!” 

Patton dropped him and burst into tears. 

  * •^*^••



Virgil felt like crying with relief when he was taken back into the room with Logan. Logan looked like he hadn’t slept any more than Virgil had, but he didn’t look hurt. 

The man just sat down again. How he managed to do it Virgil had no idea. He’d never met a human capable of just sitting for this long. 

Time passed slowly. 

Then Logan looked up, determination on his face. Oh, please don’t let him do anything stupid. 

“May I come out?” Logan asked, his voice carefully level and even. 

Virgil’s gaze snapped up to the man. He looked as surprised as Virgil felt that Logan would ask. He shrugged. “As long as you remember the rules.”

Logan looked down, barely disguising the disgust on his face. “I’m yours and you can pick me up when you want to. If I use my teeth or claws against you you’ll hold onto me for an hour each time.” His voice, though clearly through gritted teeth, was still even. 

The man looked pleasantly surprised. He shrugged. “Then sure.” He leaned forward and opened the cage. 

Logan came out immediately, looking like he wasn’t worried at all, especially with how he stepped into the man’s lap to get to Virgil. He ran his hands over Virgil’s head, and the parts of his arms and sides he could reach. 

“I’m fine,” Virgil whispered, his own voice quavering and hoarse. 

Logan pulled Virgil into a hug. Virgil relaxed slightly, and gripped Logan’s shirt. A large part of him wanted to ask Logan to get him out, but he knew that Logan had no more control of the situation than he did. 

Virgil didn’t look up. He didn’t want to see the man watching them. 

“I knew you looked smart,” the man said triumphantly. “But I didn’t realize you were one of the failures.”

Logan flinched slightly, and Virgil held on tighter. 

“I’m willing to bet you both are. Both got chucked into the trash bin and that’s where the girl found you, huh?” The man chuckled and then continued. “You’re awfully lucky then, not many trainers would keep you if they knew you were failures. But I’m not like that, and you’re smart. You’ll figure it out.”

Logan stiffened, but didn’t acknowledge the man. 

A few seconds later Virgil felt Logan stiffen even more, and looked up to see him gritting his teeth. The man was petting his head. 

Virgil didn’t expect Logan to say anything, but he did. “Surely with as much as you think you know about me, you could infer that I do not find this pleasant.”

The man hummed, but didn’t change what he was doing. 

Virgil had an idea. It was not a particularly pleasing idea, but if he was right, they could survive. It seemed that this man was familiar with hybrids already. He hadn’t pulled at their ears or tails, hadn’t really hurt them, hadn’t yelled. Virgil had directly bitten him, several times, and he hadn’t exploded or gotten angry. But he did seem to demand obedience, and a degree of submission. Which meant that… well, they’d certainly be treated demeaningly, but, they might be able to survive here. 

It was… odd. Virgil liked Patton and Thomas far more than he would ever like this man, but he felt like he understood this man a bit better. He made rules, and followed through with them. It wasn’t fair, it wasn’t right, but it was predictable. And Virgil could work within a predictable situation. 

“Please, don’t pet Logan.” Virgil said, and despite his relative confidence that he was right, his voice still quavered with uncertainty. 

Logan pulled back, staring at Virgil in shock. 

But the man smiled triumphantly, taking his hand away from Logan. “It seems you’re both smart. I’ve certainly made a good investment this time.”

Soon after the man turned Virgil around, facing him outward from his lap, mostly so that Logan would move and he could get back to doing whatever he was doing on his phone. 

It was a while later when lunch came in. Again, it was four servings, of which the man ate two. Virgil was ready to test his idea again. 

“Can we eat too?”

The man smiled, clearly pleased with himself. “You may.” He puffed himself up as if he imagined himself a benevolent king. “You, Logan, I think he said, bring the food over here and you two may eat.”

Logan’s teeth had been gritted almost all morning, but he did as the man said. They were both starving, and the food was good. 

More hours passed. Virgil was very nearly used to the feeling of a massive hand wrapped around his side. It still made him jump if the man shifted his grip, but on the whole, if Virgil didn’t move, the man didn’t either. 

Dinner came, and Virgil asked for it again. The man let them eat, and Virgil wondered if his idea was proven. 

It was late, late at night when the man stood up. Virgil was lifted into the air, and grabbed onto the man’s arm so he wouldn’t fall. 

“The time is up.” The man said, his face stern. “What have you learned?”

“I should let you pick me up, and not bite or scratch. And…” this was the final test of Virgil’s idea. “And to ask for things.”

The man beamed. “Excellent! You’ve learned well. By far one of the quickest learners of all my hybrids, even though the start was a bit rocky.” 

He set Virgil down on the floor. 

Then the man left. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I’ve just about finished writing Easily Broken, like so close! After Easily Broken is Trust, which I have yet to begin. If writing on Trust goes quickly, would you all like quicker updates? Or just keep going on Fridays?
> 
> Also, as this goes on, it will probably need more tags. If you know of a tag that this story needs, let me know so I can add it!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, Trust has come along quite nicely! It’s close to 3k words now, so all you lucky people get a chapter early!

  * •^*^••



**Chapter Three**

  * •^*^••



  
  


Virgil turned to Logan. Logan was still seething. He wasn’t mad at  _ Virgil _ , but Virgil was the one that was there. 

“I never thought you’d demean yourself like that.” Logan snapped. 

Hurt flashed across Virgil’s face, before turning into determination. “They’re rules. And he follows them too.”

“So you’ve just given up on getting back?”

The hurt returned to Virgil’s face. “No….” he looked around the room, bringing his thumbnail up to his mouth. “But what can I do to get back? If I don’t act like this we’ll both get hurt.”

It was the first return of the Virgil Logan knew. He’d been acting… so different. Logically, he knew that Virgil adjusted to his situation, and that he was willing to change his behavior to be the most safe he could be. It was part of the reason why being in the pet shop, with new people who acted differently so constantly, had been so hard on him. But that didn’t change the foreign way Virgil had been acting. 

And it felt like Virgil had abandoned him. Had accepted the demeaning treatment of the man who had only bought them a day and a half ago. And in accepting it, had forced Logan’s hand, forcing him to accept it as well. 

He knew that he was hurting Virgil by standing silent, but he wasn’t ready to accept being treated so much less than. 

“Logan?” 

“It’s all a falsehood.” Logan said bitterly. “The rules.” 

Virgil frowned, but didn’t contest him, at least not verbally. 

“He wants you to think of it as a choice between two options. But it isn’t.” 

Virgil was looking at him, his face set into a familiar expression. He always wore a calm, curious face when Logan taught him something new, and it was plain in his eyes that he believed every word. It wasn’t fair. Not after the way Logan had just treated him. Not after Virgil was trying to protect them both by changing himself. But Logan wasn’t ready to yield. 

“He presents a choice, bite and be held for an hour, or yield to his will. It would be an obvious choice, if it was true. But it isn’t! No matter how powerful he is, we can still choose something different. There’s more choices, if we find what they are.”

Virgil set a hand on his arm. “You can.”

“What?”

“I had an idea. I can’t find the other choices, but I can do the things the human wants. If I do them, I can do them for both of us, and you can find the other choice.”

Logan couldn’t speak. It was so different from the conclusion he had jumped to. 

Virgil seemed to take his silence as a need for more explanation. “If I can keep us safe in here, then you can get us out. And I… it doesn’t hurt me to do it like it hurts you.”

Logan didn’t know what to say. Virgil pushed himself into Logan’s arms and Logan hugged him back. 

“I’m sorry,” Logan said. “It’s a good idea.”

Virgil just hugged him tighter. 

  * •^*^••



The next morning, presumably, the man came back. He brought breakfast with him, but Virgil had to ask before he would give it to them. He gave them each a new shirt, and told them to put them on. It was a plain shirt, but thicker than most, with reinforced bands across the chest and arms. There was a strap attached to the back, across the shoulders. Logan’s suspicions were confirmed when the man picked them up by the strap on the back of the shirt and carried them out of the room. He took them through a normal-looking house, where there were several other humans doing various things, and into an attached garage. 

For a garage, it would have been massive, but it was not being used as a garage. Along the two sides, from floor to ceiling, were two large cages. Inside the cages were all manner of toys and beds and platforms, and many other miscellaneous items. On the right side the cage held cat hybrids, and on the left side the cage was filled with dog hybrids. Between the two cages there could easily be fifty hybrids in all. Straight across the room, there was a large circle, marked by a… fence of some kind, Logan couldn’t see it clearly. 

But the man was carrying them towards the circle. He set Logan inside and then walked away. Logan pushed lightly, and then harder, on the curved wall, but it didn’t budge. It was made of something hard, and covered in carpet. It was a good head taller than he was, and was rather spacious, at least half the size of the room they had been in previously. 

The man came back and sat on the wall, on the other side from where Logan was, with his legs and feet on the inside of the circle. He was still carrying Virgil, but also a different cat hybrid. He set the other hybrid down into the circle.

“So, since I don’t think you know the rules yet, Logan, I’ll explain. I train hybrids to fight. You’ll be fighting Travis here,” He lifted the hybrid slightly. “You win if you can hold him down to the ground for ten seconds. Now, you’re a bit bigger than he is, but I’d say he weighs more than you. He isn’t one of my best fighters, so you’ve got a good chance.”

“What if I refuse?” Logan challenged. 

“You’ll probably get beat up, then.” The man replied.

The man set Travis down. “Go.”

Logan was prepared, he thought, but it still knocked all the breath out of him when the other hybrid barreled into him at full speed. He didn’t fight back. He was knocked to the ground by the impact, and held there. He gasped, trying to get some breath back. 

From the other side of the pen, he heard a wordless angry shout, and saw Virgil thrashing. No! He was fine. This was a way to finish the fight with the least injury on either side. He should have known Virgil wouldn’t see it that way, that all Virgil would see was his friend getting hurt. 

The man chuckled at Virgil and dropped him into the pen. It only took a half second for Virgil to get his bearings, and then he was tackling Travis off of Logan. 

Travis and Virgil fought, but while Travis likely had more experience, Virgil was caught entirely in the fight half of fight-or-flight. He was terrified. And he was scared for Logan. He had to get up, to show Virgil that he was alright. But he still could barely breathe. 

As soon as he could, Logan got up. 

Both Travis and Virgil were snarling and hissing, rolling in a flurry of motion, and leaving a trail of blood. He had to stop them, somehow. 

“Virgil!” 

Virgil turned toward him, and was pinned harshly to the ground. 

“Just wait. Just ten seconds, Virgil.” 

Virgil looked terrified. Logan didn’t dare go near him, if he started the fight with Travis all over again it wouldn’t do anyone any good. 

After ten seconds, the man lifted Travis off of Virgil, and Logan quickly closed the distance between them, trying to assess the injuries. 

“Travis wins.” The man said, and without looking up Logan knew he was frowning. “But I’ll give you warning now, I don’t let my hybrids throw fights.”

He grabbed both Logan and Virgil in one hand and carried them to the cage, dropping them and Travis inside. 

As soon as the man was gone, Travis turned to Logan with a wry smile. “Sorry, you know how it is,” he said, with a strange accent Logan couldn’t remember ever hearing. 

“Yes, I think I’m beginning to see.”

“Is he alright?”

Virgil hadn’t spoken since the fight ended. He was still slumped on the ground, his eyes wide. Logan knelt next to him, tapping the ground. It didn’t make any sound, being concrete, so he shifted to tap on Virgil’s knee. 

“Virgil, I need you to breathe for me ok?”

Virgil slowly focused on his face, working to deepen his breathing. When he seemed to have returned to himself, so to say, Logan spoke again. 

“Are you alright?”

Virgil nodded. 

“We have medicine, if you need,” Travis offered. 

Logan was surprised he had stayed. “Yes, thank you.”

He helped Virgil to his feet, and they followed Travis to a chest in the corner. He handed Virgil an unmarked tin with some kind of cream inside. 

“What is it?” Logan asked. 

Travis shrugged. “I didn’t make it, but it helps.”

“Are you hurt?” Virgil asked, a slight tremble in his voice. 

Travis grinned, “Nah, kid, it’s just scratches in a cat fight. I’m fine.” He got out another tin and started smearing in on the scratches over his arms without even cleaning them first. “You’re pretty good at it too, which means you’ll probably end up in the real fights too. I’ll give you one bit of advice.” He looked up, meeting Virgil’s eyes. “Who you are in a fight is not who you are the rest of the time. What happens in a fight is over once the fight’s over.”

  * •^*^••



“Roman!”

Roman jolted awake from the slight doze he had been in. “What?”

“Have you seriously not been in contact with your friends?!” Remy yelled, still marching angrily toward him. 

Roman couldn’t even remember the last time he’d seen Remy actually angry. “No… I-“

“Those hybrids have been kidnapped, and the police aren’t doing shit about it.”

“What? When?”

“Nearly four days ago now. I know I was all for making fun of you and drawing out the reveal into something fun, but that’s over. You’re going over there right now, and you’re telling them who you are, and then we’re going to start looking ourselves.”

As much as he didn’t want to, and as much as the same fears assaulted his mind, they were easily overwhelmed by knowing what could happen to hybrids that got kidnapped. “What if—“

“I don’t think it was your Dad, but even if it is, we’re not leaving them.”

“Remy, I can’t—“

“I can.” Remy grinned, showing all his teeth. “I’m not here for no reason, after all.”

“I won’t let you go back.”

“You don’t own me, babes, not your decision.”

  * •^*^••



Thomas opened the front door when he heard the knock, surprised to see Roman, and even more surprised to see Remy in his arms. 

“Come in, but be quiet, Patton’s sleeping.”

Roman came in and sat on the couch. Thomas took a seat across from him. 

“So why have you been ignoring us?”

Roman blushed in embarrassment. 

Remy spoke up, “He’s not who you think he is, and he knew I was going to tell you.”

Thomas frowned. 

“I didn’t, I didn’t want you to be mad at me. And I didn’t want to hear you mad at me.” Roman said. “But Remy told me what’s going on, and that’s more important.”

Thomas nodded. He had many questions, but if he just listened, he’d probably get most of them answered, and the rest could wait. 

“My name is Roman Prince, you’ve… you’ve probably seen my dad on tv.”

Thomas blinked. Yes, he had. ‘Roddy’ Prince was a famous hybrid trainer. He was filthy rich, and millions of people loved him. There were also several million who hated him, and there were many scandals surrounding him, including one that suggested he sold hybrids into fighting rings. 

Roman cringed back at the look on his face. “Yeah. I just, I wanted friends that weren’t my friends because of my dad.”

“I still have all the embarrassing baby pictures,” Remy said. “But those will have to wait until after we find Virgil and Logan.”

“I want to help look.” Roman insisted. “I can do more, and look into places that police probably couldn’t.”

Thomas was still too stunned to do anything but nod. Now that he thought about it, there was a strong family resemblance. He may have even seen Roman once, when he would have been ten, standing stiffly next to his father in a suit, at some ribbon cutting. 

“Roman?” came Patton’s rather blurry voice. He was standing in the doorway, dressed in soft pajamas, and rubbing his eyes under his glasses. 

“Patton, you should be in bed,” Thomas admonished. 

Patton shook his head. “I can’t sleep.”

“Patton, I want to help find Logan and Virgil,” Roman said. 

Patton offered a weak smile. “Thank you.”

“First, though, Pattycake, you’re going to sleep.” Remy insisted, getting up and pulling Patton back into the bedroom. 


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I FINISHED Trust! It is done! So I'm going to go ahead and start posting a chapter a day, because I've been working on this series since mid-november, and I'm ready to have it all out there now.

  * •^*^••



**Chapter Four**

  * •^*^••



  
  


Virgil was worried. He’d been dropped into the practice arena several times in the past week, and the man seemed to like how he did. Virgil wasn’t sure what he liked so much. The instant he dropped in it was like blacking out from panic. He didn’t know what he did, just that he wasn’t going to die, and he’d do anything to stop from dying. 

Logan had never been nearby when Virgil fought after the first time. It made it even easier to follow Travis’s advice. When the man picked him up, he became Storm, which the man had said would be his fighting name. He stayed in character as Storm until the man dropped him off in the cage again, and then shed the changed personality as if it was a heavy coat. Around Logan he could be Virgil again. 

Logan had gone through the medicine box, and had somehow managed to convince the man to give him more medicines and a book about how to use them. Now, he was the honorary doctor for the cat hybrids, though he vehemently rejected the title, saying that the amount he could do could not be compared to what a doctor could. 

One day, the girl came to the cage. She opened the door. 

“I need Storm.” 

Virgil’s first impulse was to hide behind Logan and pretend like he’d never heard the name before. But that wasn’t what he’d promised. He’d promised to obey the humans and protect Logan. And he didn’t regret it for a second. He was  _ not  _ about to let Logan get in trouble by hiding behind him. 

So he stepped forward. The girl picked him up by the back of his shirt and carried him into the house proper. Several humans were bustling around, packing for something. None of them paid him any attention. 

She put him inside the room that he’d been in when he first was brought here. 

“Stay here, I’ll be right back.” 

She left the door half open. Virgil went to the doorway and looked out, but there were far too many humans to try something like getting away, and he wasn’t going to try without Logan. 

The girl came back quickly, carrying two bags. She set them down and started pulling things out of one of them. Scissors, a comb, an electric razor. 

She was going to cut his hair. Virgil did  _ not  _ like having his hair cut. Especially not with razors. One slip and it’d cut him. 

“No, no, don’t be like that.” She said, barely looking up from her preparations. “If I have to call someone in to hold you down they’ll be pissed.”

Bad as hair cutting sounded, being held down for it sounded worse. At the pet shop, if he fought back enough, eventually they’d just give up, but it seemed that things worked the opposite way here. 

“Alright, come here. Take your shirt off unless you want hair stuck to it.”

Virgil shed the shirt and sat down in front of the girl, facing away from her. She started snipping away at his hair. Virgil’s shoulders hunched up to his ears, but she didn’t seem impeded by it. He shuddered when he heard the razor turn on, and hissed when she spun him around to get the front of his hair, but as far as haircuts went, it wasn’t awful. It took less than ten minutes, and most of that was in the back, where he didn’t have to look at her. He did suspect, though, that the symbol he’d seen shaved into the back of the other hybrids heads was now in his as well. 

“Alright, look up at me. And stay there.” The girl rummaged in her other bag, and started pulling things out of there as well. 

He’d heard of makeup, but never seen it before, and hissed when she started coming at his face with it. 

“Uh uh, no. Bad kitty. Be still.” She gripped his chin with her free hand. “And don’t you dare try to bite me.”

Virgil grimaced, but he held still, ish, for her to put the cream all over his face. Then she started opening other containers, took some black stuff, and smeared it under his eyes.

“You know what? That’s good enough. I’m not trying anything else with you squirming like that. Wanna see?”

She held up a mirror in front of him. His hair was much shorter, and when he turned his head, he could see the edge of the symbol. She’d made his whole face several shades paler than usual, and he had black under his eyes. 

“Alright. Put your shirt back on, and don’t ruin your face.”

Once his shirt was back on, she picked him up, not bothering to put away any of her supplies, and deposited him in a carrier in the living room. 

Shortly after, the carrier was put in the back of a van. Virgil suddenly realized that he was being taken away from Logan, and he didn’t know how long it would be, if ever, before he was brought back. 

  * •^*^••



Virgil had been gone for nearly two hours, and Logan was starting to get worried. Five other hybrids had also been taken out of the cage, so Virgil probably wasn’t alone, but that didn’t make it much better. 

The door opened again. 

“Just make it quick, we’ve got to go!” The man’s voice came through as the girl came out again. 

“Alright, which one is Logan?” She snapped. 

Logan stepped forward. 

She grabbed him up and carried him inside. She dropped him in the small room, which was a mess of supplies, and had various colors and powders smeared around. She grabbed the hair on top of his head. 

“What are you doing?” Logan asked, trying to stay calm. He’d hoped that Virgil would be here. 

“I’m gonna cut your hair and you’re going to be still.”

Between her tight, nearly painful, grip on his hair and the tone of her voice, Logan decided that this would be a time to comply. 

Whatever she did, it was quick, and Logan knew it would look messy. She didn’t even do anything with the hair on the front or sides of his head, just buzzed away at the back and then picked him up again. 

She took him outside, heading toward a car, and even before the door was opened he could hear Virgil’s angry screaming. 

“Get him to shut up!” She yelled, shoving him into the same carrier with Virgil. 

“Logan.” Virgil said, and grabbed him tightly, burying his face in his chest. “They were going to take me away.”

Logan looked down at the back of Virgil’s head, where the brand was cut into his hair. A hand raised to the back of his own head, where he could feel the same brand. Whatever fighting they were expected to do, it was going to be soon. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In this chapter starts a thing, like a mental problem thing. I want to say now that it is based off of bits and pieces of a lot of things, and it is fictional. It's not supposed to be a direct representation of anything, and I do not mean to offend anyone with any kind of mental illness.


	5. Chapter 5

  * •^*^••



**Chapter Five**

  * •^*^••



The car trip was several hours long, and Logan wondered if they were closer to home, or farther away. 

They were left, still all in the carriers, in a room with many other carriers filled with hybrids. The carriers that Logan could see all had a brand on them, and he assumed that the one he and Virgil were in had the same brand as had been cut into their hair. 

The room was loud with a rumbling mutter from the many hybrids speaking quietly, but every time the door was opened, a much louder cacophony assaulted his ears. 

Then the man came in again. He opened the carrier and pulled Logan out, carrying him in one hand and the carrier with Virgil inside in the other. 

Then he dropped off the carrier with someone else, and took Logan with him, ignoring all of the acidic words Logan spat at him. 

He sat down in a chair, and held Logan in his lap, pinning his arms so he couldn’t scratch at him. The chair was one among many, a stadium of people gathered to watch whatever abomination was about to happen. Logan could barely hear his own voice anymore. He could barely move, and couldn’t even cover his ears against the noise. But he was determined that he was  _ not  _ going to just give in to it. Unfortunately, that left getting angry as his only other option. So he was seething mad. Mad enough to scream, if he thought it would do any good. But it wouldn’t. It was--agh! It was so  _ infuriating  _ that he couldn’t  _ do  _ anything about  _ any  _ of this!

Suddenly the crowd erupted in a cheer, and Logan ducked his head down, squeezing his eyes shut in an effort to get away from the noise. And then it grew quiet. 

There was an announcer, saying something that Logan was pointedly not listening to, as much as he could help. But then the announcer said something about Storm, and Logan froze, suddenly paying attention. 

He couldn’t see much in the arena, it was too far away. He could tell that two hybrids were being held up one either side, but he couldn’t tell which one was Virgil. Perhaps neither. Perhaps another hybrid was being called Storm. But his brain still fixed his eyes on the arena, despite his inability to see clearly.

There was a countdown, and then the hybrids were released. One started running in to attack immediately, while the other waited, even backing up a step. But once contact had been made it devolved into a blur of motion, and loud, angry sounds. 

It took several long, painful minutes for the motion to stop, and the announcer started counting down ten seconds. Once they were over the hybrids were pulled apart, and it was announced that Storm had won. 

“There! Your little buddy won!” The man said, loudly to be heard over the crowd, which was once again rumbling with many voices. 

So it was Virgil. Logan wished more than anything that he could see. 

He assumed that, now that the fight was over, he’d be taken back to where Virgil was, but he was mistaken. The man just sat still and waited for the next fight. Logan was stuck sitting there. For the next. Four. Hours. 

During that time, he only paid attention to anything when the announcer said something about Storm. Though two of those times it was a different Storm. Virgil fought four more times. On the fifth fight he lost, and finally the man got up. 

He dropped Logan in a carrier, and tossed in a small bag. Virgil was not in the carrier. Logan opened the bag, and found some food and some unlabeled salve and bandages. It was only a little bit longer before Virgil was dropped into the carrier. 

His eyes were wide and dark, his shirt torn, and Logan could see many, many scratches covering his arms and face. Unlike usual, he didn’t seem to react to Logan in any way. He just waited there, just inside the door to the carrier, not moving or speaking except to breathe heavily. 

“Virgil? Are you alright?”

He didn’t react. His eyes were fixed on Logan, but they seemed oddly blank. Logan reached out a hand, slowly. 

“It’s just me, Virgil. You’re safe now.”

As soon as his hand was in range, Virgil hissed and swiped at it with his claws out, leaving a bleeding cut along the back. Logan jerked his hand back. 

“Virgil!”

**_“I’m Storm.”_ ** Virgil said, his voice coming out gravely and deeper than usual. 

Logan blinked. 

He didn’t know what to do. 

A long, awkward silence later, Logan spoke. “It’s nice to meet you, Storm. I have food, and medicine, and I would like to help you.”

Virgil abruptly sat down. “ **_Gimme the food first.”_ **

Logan slowly pulled out one of the containers. Inside was— some noodle dish. There wasn’t any kind of utensils in the bag. He handed the container to Virgil. 

He wished that there was some kind of antiseptic, or even just water, to wash Virgil’s arms and face. 

Logan waited until Virgil had finished eating. 

“Can I put the medicine on you?” 

Virgil nodded. Logan treated the scratches as carefully as he could, wincing when he saw how deep some of them were. He wrapped the bandages around his arms, and around his ankles. There were a few scratches on his sides, and still the ones of his face, but there weren’t enough bandages to cover everything. 

“There. I’m done.”

Virgil nodded. He shifted to sit leaning against a wall, his face turned away from Logan and looking out. 

What had happened? Virgil was… not Virgil anymore. And Logan still didn’t know what to do about it. He’d managed to deal with the physical issues, but it seemed that the mental problems were worse. Much worse. He’d never studied any mental problems, but surely forgetting your own name was a really bad sign. 

The most surprising thing was that Virgil seemed almost calm. He was still tense, and stiff, but he wasn’t shaking, and didn’t seem to be having any problems breathing. 

Whenever Logan moved, Virgil’s attention snapped to him, and not in a pleasant way, so Logan settled into the far corner to wait. 

  * •^*^••



“We’re late,” Remy groused. 

“I got us here as soon as I can, and it’s a three day thing.” Roman said. 

“Gurl, what if they’re out already? They’re both soft. We’d waste the whole time, and be no closer.”

“We just have to try. There’s still the late night fights today, and they might be in one of them.”

  * •^*^••



At some point Logan had fallen asleep, and based on the crick in his neck he’d been asleep for quite a while before he woke up. He yawned, and stretched. The room was much quieter now. Perhaps the other hybrids were sleeping as well. 

He was only awake for a few minutes when a quiet groan came from Virgil, and he shifted, suddenly wincing and waking up. He blinked several times and then locked eyes with Logan. His eyes seemed clearer now. 

“Everything hurts.” 

Logan gave him a sympathetic look. Whatever frame of mind he was in, he was still Virgil, and he was hurting. 

“I can put on more medicine, though I am uncertain how much it will help with pain.”

Virgil nodded. 

Logan took his arm in his hand, and started unwrapping the bandages carefully. “Are you feeling any better?”

Virgil shook his head. “I don’t remember too much about last night, it’s all fuzzy. But it didn’t hurt like this.”

Logan was worried. Virgil’s arm seemed overly warm, and the scratches were rimmed with red. The only thing he could think was infection, but… he didn’t want to think about what would happen if all of this were really infected. He carefully rubbed on some more of the salve, trying to be as gentle as possible. 

  * •^*^••



Logan was stuck in the man’s lap again. His throat was sore from screaming, and the man’s grip was bruisingly tight. They’d taken Virgil away, probably to fight again, and from the way he’d changed the instant the door was opened, Logan knew that he’d lost Virgil again, and that the one the humans were carrying away was Storm. 

There were many fights before Virgil’s this time, but despite everything, he still won. The second fight he was in he lost. 

The man grumbled something, and stood up to get out of the seats. Logan just wanted to get back to Virgil, and out of this mess. But suddenly, mere moments before he was carried out, he saw a hybrid walking by itself. And something about the hybrid stood out to him, even above the fact that he was alone. 

“Remy?” The hybrid couldn’t have heard him, but he turned, and now Logan was sure. “Remy!” 

The man walked out the doors. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter! Only one more! :)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Final! Chapter! Tomorrow is Trust!

  * •^*^••



**Chapter Six**

  * •^*^••



  
  


“Roman! Roman, it was Logan, I’m sure. He was carried out that way.”

Remy lept into Roman’s arms, and let him carry him through the crowd and out the doors. The lobby was packed full of humans, trying to get places before the next match started. Roman froze. 

“Where? I don’t see him anywhere.”

“We have to get to the holding rooms, he’ll be there at some point.”

Roman took in a deep breath, and started pushing through the crowd. 

They reached the door to the ‘backstage’ area, but there was a man standing in front. 

“Unless you’ve registered a hybrid for the event, I can’t let you back here, sir.” The guard said. 

Remy bared his teeth and hissed at the guard. They were  _ going  _ to get through, one way or another. 

The guard blinked, and looked up at Roman. “You’re—you’re Roman Prince!”

“I am. Now are you going to let me through?”

“I—can I have an autograph?!”

Roman sighed. “Do you have a pen?”

  * •^*^••



Logan was dropped on the floor, instead of inside the cage. The man reached into the cage and pulled Virgil out. Virgil was slack in his grip. 

“Virgil!” Logan shouted. 

“What’s wrong with you today? You beat better hybrids than that one yesterday.” The man said, punctuating his words by shaking Virgil. 

Virgil just responded with a hiss. 

The man shoved him back in the cage. “I thought you were better than this.”

The man picked up Logan again. Suddenly, through the half open door, someone walked by, catching Logan’s eye. 

“Roman!” Logan squirmed and fought, calling Roman’s name at the top of his lungs. 

And then the door opened all the way. Roman walked in, his face set firmly, and holding Remy, who was bristling and furious. 

Roman ignored Logan for the moment, and walked up to the man, stepping just too close. 

“What are  _ you _ doing with  _ that _ hybrid?” Roman demanded. 

The man gulped, before puffing up his own chest. “What do you mean? This is my hybrid.”

Roman leaned in even closer. “I’m positive that you want to rethink that. I’ve been looking for two stolen hybrids, and this means that either you’re the one who stole them, or you bought them from thieves. I’m not entirely sure that you want your name remembered by me either way.”

The man backed up a step. “I-I swear I didn’t know they were stolen. I’d never have bought them if I knew they were yours!”

Roman held out a hand, and the man passed Logan to him. 

“Now where’s the other one?” Roman asked, his voice close to a growl. 

“Y-you can’t just take them from me!” The man protested. “I paid a lot of money for them.”

“ _ You _ paid money for  _ stolen _ hybrids and you want  _ me _ to do something about that?” Roman growled, stepping forward, and forcing the man back another step. 

“It’s over there,” the man said, visibly deflating and pointing to the open cage. 

Remy climbed up onto Roman’s shoulder, so that Roman could reach in and pull Virgil out. Virgil let out a hiss, but didn’t make any other protest, just hung. 

Roman carried them through the crowd and outside. Logan gasped at the cool, fresh night air, and the quiet. 

The walk was at least five minutes before Roman stopped by a car. He set Logan and Virgil down and pulled out his keys. 

“Are you two alright? Once we’re in the car we’ll have some light.” 

Logan wasn’t sure he could respond. He was feeling a lot of things, relief being the largest, and only discernible one of them. He took in a deep breath, and suddenly there were tears pricking at his eyes. Why? He wasn’t upset. Or angry, or scared. So why… and now he was crying. Logan rubbed at his eyes, wiping away the tears on his sleeves. 

Roman opened the car door finally, and bundled both Virgil and Logan into the backseat with Remy. 

“Remy, check on them, please. I’m gonna get us home as quickly as I can.”

There were now hands on Logan’s shoulders. “Gurl, you alright? Are you hurt?” 

Logan looked up. He knew that it was Remy, that under any other circumstances he would really rather not have Remy touch him, but in this moment he was overwhelmed. He flung himself forward, holding Remy around the waist. 

“I-I didn’t think you would find us!” He said, his voice hitching as his body threatened to make him start sobbing. “I didn’t know you were even looking.”

“Hey, shhh,” Remy said, and to Logan’s surprise, he was capable of making his voice sound soothing. He stroked Logan’s hair with one hand, and held him around the shoulders with the other. “Of course we’ve been looking. We’d never let someone take you away without fighting. Not a one of us. Patton’s worried sick, you know. He’s been trying the hardest of any of us.”

And somehow, even though that was good, comforting news, that was what broke the dam and set Logan crying. 

“Oh, hey, it’s alright,” Remy said, rubbing softly at Logan’s back. “It’s alright. We’ve gotcha now.”

It took Logan several minutes to get ahold of himself. “We ha-we have to check on Virgil,” he said, trying to bring his breathing back to normal and stop the tears. 

“Shit, yeah we do,” Remy said, letting go of Logan and turning to Virgil. 

Virgil was asleep, or seemed to be. The car was dark, but the smell of blood hung in the air. 

Remy reached out for him and Logan grabbed his arm, pulling him back. “Don’t wake him up. I don’t— I don’t know what he’ll do if you wake him up.”

“What do you mean?”

“He’s been… I hesitate to say it but, not in his right mind. Not since he came back from the first set of fights they thrust him into.”

“What’s he acting like?”

“He’s— he takes on the fighting name they gave him. He’s less scared, and more aggressive, particularly towards other hybrids. He doesn’t respond to his name and-“ Logan’s voice, only barely recovered from crying, cracked. “And I don’t think he recognizes me.”

Remy folded Logan into another hug. “It’s alright. We’ll figure something out.”

  * •^*^••



Patton had been pacing ever since they got the call from Roman. 

“Please, Patton, they won’t be here for several hours,” Thomas coaxed. “Come sit down. Just for a minute?”

Patton plopped down next to Thomas, worrying his lip between his teeth. “I just— they’re coming home! I’m so excited! And also so scared. Why wouldn’t Roman tell us anything else?! Just that Virgil’s hurt, and he wouldn’t even say how hurt he is!” Patton burst into tears. 

Thomas pulled Patton into a hug, stroking his hair and making shushing noises. “It’ll be alright. Once Virgil is here, we can help him, and we’ll get him all better, no matter what happened to him.”

Patton sobbed into his shoulder. “What if it’s really, really bad? What if— what if he can’t get better?!”

“It’s ok. I’m sure if it was that bad Roman would have told us.”

“What if he was just scared to tell us? And it’s actually really, really bad?!?”

“Patton, hey, calm down. You don’t have to think of all the worst things.”

“I-I don’t know if I can calm down!” Patton gripped Thomas tightly, and Thomas could feel his too-quick breathing. 

“Here, listen to me, what are five things you can see?”

“W-what?”

“Five things that you can see. You don’t have to move, just tell me what they are.”

“T-there’s your shirt, ah-and, um, the floor. The couch.” Thomas felt Patton let go with one hand. “My hand. And… uh, the-the scratches on the coffee table.”

“Good. Now how about four things you can hear?”

“I-I can hear your voice, and mine, and the… refrigerator. And someone’s yelling outside.”

“Good. Good job, Patton!” Thomas said warmly. “How about three things you can feel?”

“I can feel your hand in my hair. And there’s tears on my face. And my head hurts.”

“That’s fine, we’ll get you some medicine in a minute. How about two things you can smell?”

“I can smell your shampoo, and…” Patton gave the tiniest chuckle. “And I haven’t showered in too long.”

Thomas chuckled with Patton. “How about something you can taste?”

“Um… my lips are all salty.”

Thomas patted his back. “How about you take a quick shower? I’ll get you some medicine and get everything ready for when Roman gets here. Sound good?”

“Yeah,” Patton muttered, hiding his face in Thomas’s shoulder. “It’s a good idea. Thank you.”

“Anytime, Pat.”

  * •^*^••



It was very late at night when they arrived at Patton’s apartment. Logan felt tears rising up again when Patton opened the door. He didn’t at all mind the hug he was scooped into, and buried his face in the side of Patton’s neck. 

“Oh, I was so scared!” Patton was sobbing harder than Logan was. “I couldn’t find you, and I didn’t know if you were ok! I’m—I’m so glad you’re home!” 

Suddenly there was an angry hiss, and a gasp. Logan turned to see Virgil on the ground, glaring and hissing. 

Remy was next to him, nursing a bleeding hand. 

“ **_Don’t touch me,_ ** ” Virgil hissed. 

“Virgil?” Thomas asked, his voice full of concern as he knelt beside the hybrid. 

“ **_I’m not Virgil!_ ** ” Virgil insisted. 

“Listen,” Roman said, trying to sound calming. “We’re all very tired and worked up. It’s been a very long and stressful day. Why don’t we go to sleep, and see if things will get better in the morning.”

Patton and Thomas begrudgingly agreed. Logan was set down in his and Virgil’s bed, and he couldn’t believe the wave of calm and relief that flooded through him. The room was dark, but in a cozy way, and Patton’s noise machine was running. The bed was warm and soft. A large part of him was still very worried about Virgil, but the relief was so intense that he dropped off to sleep anyway. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know what you think! Comment please, and leave kudos and bookmark if you enjoyed!


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